§ 72. Verbs
Brockelmann, Semit. Sprachwiss., p. 144 ff.; Grundriss, p. 605 ff.
A vowel thus lengthened before the tone is naturally changeable and becomes vocal e
SèewaÖ when the tone is moved forward, e. g.WNt,ñymiy> he will kill him; so also in the 3rd plur. imperfect Qal withNuÖn paragogic;!WtñWmy> (withoutNuÖn WtWmñy" ). The wholly abnormal scriptio plena ofeÒ inrymiyheh; Jer 2:11 (besiderymihe in the same verse) should, with König, be emended torymiy"h] ; the incorrect repetition of the interrogative necessarily led to the pointing of the form as perfect instead of imperfect.— But inHophÇal theuÖ is retained throughout as an unchangeable vowel, when it has been introduced by an abnormal lengthening for the tone-longoÒ (as in theHophÇal of verbs[¾¾[ ).
Without the separating vowel and consequently with the tone-long k
oÒ andeÒ instead ofuÖ andiÖ we find in imperfect Qalhn"aobñT' (see § 76 g);^b.voñT' Ez 16:55 (alsohn"yb,ñWvT. in the same verse);hn"b.voñT'w: 1 S 7:14 (cf. Ez 35:9QereÖ ; on theKethiÖbh hn"b.v;ñyTe cf. above, note on § 69 b);hn"r>aoñT'w: 1 S 14:27 fromrAa (KethiÖbh hn"añ,r>Tiw: and they saw, see § 75 w); inHiphÇiÖl , e. g.T'p.n:òhe Ex 20:25, alsoytiApñynIh] Jb 31:21;yTil.j;hew> Jer 22:26;hn"b.veñT' Jb 20:10; with a separating vowel, e. g.hn"yañ,ybiT. Lv. 7:30 fromaAB .SeghoÖl withouty occurs in the imperfect Qal inhn"tñ,WmT. Ez 13:19, Zc 1:17; and inHiphÇiÖl Mi 2:12: theDagesë in theNuÖn is, with Baer, to be rejected in all three cases according to the best authorities. Wholly abnormal ishn"m.yqñiT' Jer 44:25, probably an erroneous transposition ofmy (forhn"ymñ,qiT. ), unless it originates from an incorrect spellinghn"m.yqñeT' orhn"mñ,yqiT. .
REMARKS.
I. On Qal.
1. Of verbs middle e and o, in which, as in the strong verb, the perfect and participle have the same form (§ 50. 2), the following are the only examples: n
tme he is dead, fem.ht'meñ , 2nd masc.hT'm;ñ (cf. § 44 g § 66 h); 1st sing.yTim;ñà yTim;ñw" (even in pause, Gn 19:19); plur.Wtmeñ , 1st pers.Wnt.m;ñ , in pauseWnt.m'ñ È vB he was ashamed,T.v.Bà yTiv.Bñà Wnv.Bñà WvBñÃ È rAa it has shone, plur.WrAañ È bAj to be good,wbjoñ . Participlestme a dead man (plur.~ytimeà yteme );~yviAB ashamed, Ez 32:30. FordnE Is 27:11 readdn" , or, with LXX,d[; .
Isolated anomalies in the perfect are: o
tb;ñv'w> (with the original ending of the fem. forhb'ñv'w> ) Ez 46:17 (see § 44 f);!Wqc' Is 26:16 (see § 44 l).—InWnB'ñ 1 S 25:8 (forWnaB' fromaAB ) thea has been dropped contrary to custom. InWaoBñ Jer 27:18 (instead ofWaB'ñ ) the Masora seems to point to the imperfectWaoñby" which is what would be expected; asYoÖdh precedes, it is perhaps simply a scribal error.
The form p
~q' occurs (cf. § 9 b) witha in the perfect,~aq' Ho 10:14, also in the participlesjal' softly, Ju 4:21,var' poor, 2 S 12:1, 4, Pr 10:4 plur 13:23;~yjiav' doing despite unto (unless~yjia]vo) is to be read, from a stemjav whenceja'v. Ez 25:15, 36:5), Ez 28:24, 26; fem. 16:57; also in Zc 14:10hm'ar' is to be read with Ben-Naphtali forhm'a]r' . On the analogy of participles of verbs middleoÒ (like~yviAB , see above)~ymiAq occurs for~ymiq' 2 K 16:7 and even with a transitive meaningjAl occultans, Is 25:7;~ysiAB Zc 10:5.—Participle passire,lWm circumcised; butgWs a backslider, Pr 14:14, andhr'Ws put aside, Is 49:21 (cf. Jer 17:13QereÖ ), are verbal adjectives of the formqaÒtÌuÖl (§ 50 f), not passive participles. For~yvixu hastening, Nu 32:17, read~yvimux] as in Ex 13:18; forybeWv Mi 2:8 readybev'
2. Imperfects in q
uÖ almost always have the corresponding imperative and infinitive construct inuÖ , as~Wqy" , imperative and infinitive~Wq (also defectively written~quy"Ã ~qu ); butvWdy" he threshes (infin.vWD ), has imperativeyviADñ (fem.), Mi 4:13;jWmy" it slippeth, infinitivejAm (y Ps 38:17, 46:3); cf.x;An (alsox;Wn ) Nu 11:25 and[;An Is 7:2 (elsewhere[;Wn ) with the imperfectsx;Wny" and[;Any" È zA[l' Is 30:2;bAX Jos 2:16;~Ar Ez 10:17 (verse 16~Wr ).
Where the imperfect (always intrasitive in meaning) has r
oÖ the imperative and infininitive also have it; thus imperfectaAby" (aoby" ), infin. and imper.aAB oraoB 6;raoYEw: 2 S 2:32,yrIAañà WrAañ È vAbyEà vAB , &c.—jAqy" Jb 8:14 (if it be a verb at all and not rather a substantive) is formed on the analogy of verbs[¾¾[ , since the imperfect ofjoWq appears asjWqa' iny Ps 95:10. On the other hand!Wvqy> (as if fromvAq , on the analogyaAby" , &c.) occurs as imperfect ofvqy" ¿y¾¾pÀ . The imperfect!Ady" withoÖ , Gn 6:3, probably in the sense of to rule, has no corresponding perfect, and is perhaps intentionally differentiated from the common verb!ydIy" to judge (from!yDIà y¾¾[ ). Or can!Ady" be jussive afteraol (cf. § 109 d)? Similarly (^n>y[e )ynIy[e sAxt' aol might be taken as a case of a jussive afteraol , with irregular scriptio plena (as in Ju 16:30), in Dt 7:16, 13:9, 19:13, 21, 25:12, Ez 5:11, 7:4, 9, 8:18, 9:10. But perhaps in all these casessWxt' aol was originally intended, as in Is 13:18, Jer 21:7, while cases likesxoy" y Ps 72:13 are to be explained as in § 109 k.— The infinitive absolute always hasoÖ , e. g.WmWqñy" ~Aq Jer 44:29.
3. In the imperative with afformatives ( s
ymiWqñà WmWqñ ) the tone is on the stem syllable (cf., however,yrIñW[ ) Ju 5:12 intentionally varied fromyrIW[ñ ; alsoyrIñW[ Zc 13:7 and Is 51:9 besideymeyKäi yrIW[ñ È yliñyGI Zc 9:9;yrIñWc Is 21:2,ybiñWv y Ps 116:7, likewise for rhythmical reasons). So also the lengthened form, ashb'Wvñ Jer 3:12,y Ps 7:8 (cf. 2 S 15:27),hr'W[ñ y Ps 7:7, andhm'Wqñ y Ps 44:27. But if ana follows in close connexion, the lengthened imperative usually has the formhm'ñWq , &c.,7 in order to avoid a hiatus, e. g. Ju 4:18,y Ps 82:8; hence also beforehA'hy> QereÖ perpetuumyn"doa] (§ 17 c), e. g.y Ps 3:8, 7:7hm'ñWq (cf., however, in the same versehr'W[ñ and in Jer 40:5,hb'vuñ beforea ), and so even beforer y Ps 43:1, 74:22, &c. (hb'ñyrI ).
4. In the jussive, besides the form t
~qoy" (see above, f),~Aqy" also occurs (as subjunctive, Ec 12:4;gAsn" y Ps 80:19 may also, with Delitzsch, be regarded as a voluntative), incorrectly written plene, and~quñy" (Gn 27:31; cf. Ju 6:18, Pr 9:4, 16), which, however, is only orthographically different from~Wqy" (cf. Jer 46:6). In the imperfect consecutive (~q'Y"òw: , in pause~qoY"òw: , see above, f) if there be a guttural orr in the last syllable,aç often takes the place ofoç , e. g.xn:Y"òw: and he rested;[n:Y"òw: and it was moved;rs;Y"òw: and he turned aside, Ju 4:18, Ru 4:1 (distinguished only by the sense fromHiphÇiÖl rs;Y"òw: and he removed, Gn 8:13);rc;Y"òw: Ex 21:4, 2 K 5:23, 17:5 (but alsorg"Y"òw: from bothrWG to sojourn, andrWG to fear);@[;Y"òw: (to be distinguished from@['Y"òw: and he flew, Is 6:6) and he was weary, Ju 4:21, 1 S 14:28, 31, 2 S 21:15, but probably in all these cases@[;YIw: for@[;YIw: from@[ey" is intended. ForXwltw 2 S 13:8 Keth., theQereÖ rightly requiresvl'T'ñw: . On the other hand, in an open syllable alwaysWmWqñY"w:Ã WrWsñY"w: , &c. On~Wqa'w)" (~qua'w)" ), see § 49 e.
Examples of the full plural ending u
!W with the tone (see above, l) are!WtñmuT. Gn 3:3, 4;!WsñWny> y Ps 104:7;!WcòWry> Jo 2:4, 7, 9.
II. On
5. The form of the 1st sing. perf. v
ytiAmñWqn> , which frequently occurs (ytigOòWsn>Ã ytigOWpn> , cf. also the ptcp. plur.~ykiWbn> Ex 14:8), serves as a model for the 2nd sing.t'AmñWqn>Ã tAmWqn> , and the 1st plur.WnAmñWqn> given in the paradigm, although no instances of these forms are found; but of the 2nd plur. the only examples found haveoÖ (notuÖ ), viz.~t,coAp)n> ye have been scattered, Ez 11:17, 20:34, 41, and~t,joq)on>W and ye shall loathe yourselves, Ez 20:43, 36:31.— To theiç (instead ofaç ) of the preformative may be traced the perfectrA[nE Zc 2:17 (analogous to the perfect and participlelAMnI , see below, ee), imperfectrA[yE foryiÇÇoÒr . — The infinitive constructvWDhi occurs in Is 25:10; inrAale Jb 33:30, the Masora assumes the elision of theh (forrAaheli ); but probablyrAal' (Qal) is intended (see § 51 l). —gAmn" Is 14:31,gAsn" Is 59:13 are to be regarded as infinitives absolute.
III. On
6. Examples of the perfect without a separating vowel (see above, k) are: w
t'abeñhe ), &c. (see further, § 76 g);hT'm;ñhe ) (fromtWm ) forheÒmaÃthtaÒ (cf. § 20 a);WNk;ñhe 1st plur. perfectHiphÇil from!WK 2 Ch 29:19, even~T,mih] (§ 27 s) Nu 17:6, &c.; cf. 1 S 17:35, 2 S 13:28, also!T,mih]w); ), l Ex 1:16, andh'yTiñmih]w); Ho 2:5; but elsewhere, withwaÒw consecutiveyTiñm;hew> Is 14:30; cf.yTñl.j;hew> Jer 16:13, andT'ñp.n:hew> Ex 29:24, &c. — In these cases theeÒ of the first syllable is retained in the secondary tone; elsewhere in the second syllable before the tone it becomes¤/ (1 Ch 15:12, &c.) or more frequently¤] , and in the syllable before the antepenultima it is necessarily¤] (e. g.ytiñmoqih]w); Gn 6:18). Before a suffix in the 3rd sing. masc. (except Gn 40:13) and fem., and in the 3rd plur., the vowel of the initial syllable isHÍatÌephSeghoÖl , in the other persons alwaysHÍatÌephPathahÌ (KÖnig) ; onAtmoqeh] 2 K 9:2,y Ps 89:44, cf. Ex 19:23, Nu 31:28, Dt 4:39, 22:2, 27:2, 30:1, Ez 34:4, and above, i. The 3rd fem. perf. Hiph.hT's;ñhe 1 K 21:25 is quite abnormal forht'ysiñhe fromtWs ortysi .
As in verbs x
[¾¾[ withx for their first radical (§ 67 w), all the forms ofdW[ Ex 19:23 (where against the rule given under i we findht'doñ[eh; witheÒ instead ofiÖ ), Dt 8:19, Neh 9:34, Jer 42:19, andrW[ Is 41:25, 45:13, takePathahÌ in these conjugations instead of¤] . The irregular~ytiAbv.Ah)w> Zc 10:6 has evidently arisen from a combination of two different readings, viz.~yTib.v;Ah)w> (frombv;y" and~ytiAbvih]w); (frombWv ): the latter is to be preferred. — Onvybihe ) andvybiAh as a (metaplastic) perfectHiphÇil ofvAB , cf. § 78 b.
7. In the imperative, besides the short form y
~qeh' (onbv;h' Is 42:22 with Silluq, cf. § 29 q; but in Ez 21:35 forbv;h' read the infinitivebveh' ) the lengthened formhm'yqiñh' is also found. With suffixynImeñyqih] , &c. The imperativeaybih' Jer 17:18 is irregular (forabeh' Gn 43:16); perhapsaybeh' (as in 1 S 20:40; cf. 2 K 8:6) is intended, or it was originallyha'ybiñh' .
In the infinitive, elision of the z
h occurs inaybil' Jer 39:7, 2 Ch 31:10 (foraybih'l. );h¤' fem. is added inhp'n"h]l; ) Is 30:28; cf. Est 2:18, and the analogous infinitiveHophÇel in biblical Aramaic, Dn 5:20. — As infinitive absolute!ykih' occurs in Ez 7:14 (perh. also Jos 4:3, Jer 10:23). — The participles haveeÒ , on the analogy of the perfect, as the vowel of the preformative, like verbs[¾¾[ (§ 67 i). Onybime 2 S 5:2, &c. (inKethiÖbh ), see § 74 k.
On the shortened forms of the imperfect ( aa
~qey"Ã ~q,Y"òw: , but alwaysabeñY"w: ; in the jussive also with retraction of the tonebv,T'ñ-la; 1 K 2:20) see above, f. With a guttural orr the last syllable generally hasPathahÌ (as in Qal), e. g.d[;y"òw: and he testified 2 K 17:13;xr;ñy" let him smell, 1 S 26:19;xr;Y"òw: Gn 8:21;rs;Y"òw: and he took away, Gn 8:13. The 1st sing. of the imperfect consecutive commonly has the formbyviña'w)" Neh 2:20, or, more often, defectivelyd[ia'w)" 1 K 2:42, less frequently the formbvea'w)" Jos 14:7. — For@sea' Zp 1:2 (after@soa' ) and in verse 3, read@seao from@s;a' , on the analogy ofrmeao § 68 g: similarly in Jer 8:13~pes.a)o instead of~peysia] .
In the imperfect bb
PoÖleÒl the tone is moved backwards before a following tone-syllable, but without a shortening of the vowel of the final syllable; e. g.yAN+ ~meArñT. Pr 14:34;Al lleAxñT. Jb 35:14; cf. Pr 25:23, and acc. to BaeryBi !n)eBoñt.Tiw: Jb 30:20 (ed. Mant., Ginsb.yBi !n<Bot.Tiw: ), always in principal pause; on the Metheg withSÍere , cf. § 16 f.g .—AsPoÖlal cf.[[+'roy> Is 16:10.
As participleHophÇal bv;WMh; occurs in close connexion, Gn 43:12; cf. § 65 d.
Peculiar contracted forms of cc
PoÖleÒl (unless they are transitives in Qal) areWNn<Ðkuy>w: Jb 31:15,WNr,ñW[y> 41:2,WngEÐWmT.w: Is 64:6 forWNn<Ðn>k)oy>w: , &c. [but readWnnEn>koy>w: (§ 58 k),WNr,y[iY> orWNn<r>A[y> , andWnnEG>m;T.w: ]; also~meroT. Jb 17:4, for~mem.r)oT. .—In Is 15:5Wr[eñ[oy> appears to have arisen from the PilpelWr[eñr>[;y> , theaÁ after the loss of ther having been lengthened toaÒ , which has then been obscured tooÖ .— For the strange form.ym,ñm]Aq)t.Bi y Ps 139:21, which cannot (according to § 52 s) be explained as a participle with them omitted, readqt.miB.
IV. In General.
8. The verbs dd
W¾¾[ are primarily related to the verbs[¾¾[ (§ 67), which were also originally biliteral, so that it is especially necessary in analysing them to pay attention to the differences between the inflexion of the two classes. Several forms are exactly the same in both, e.g. imperfect Qal andHiphÇil withWaÒw consecutive, the whole ofHophÇal , thePiÇleÒl of verbsW¾¾[ , and thePoÖÇeÒl of verbs[¾¾[ ; see § 67 z. Owing to this close relation, verbsW¾¾[ sometimes have forms which follow the analogy of verbs[¾¾[ , e. g. perfect QalzB; he has despised (fromzWB , as if fromzz:B' ) Zc 4:10; perfect Niph‘alrm'n" Jer 48:11 (forrAmn" fromrWm , as if fromrr;m' ). The same explanation equally applies tohj'q.n)' Jb 10:1 forhJ'q;ñn" ) (cf. § 67 dd) =hj'Aqñn" ) fromjWq , andWJqon"Ð ) Ez 6:9 (forWjAqñn" );WMArñyE Ez 10:17 andWMroñYEw: verse 15;WMroñhe (imperative) Nu 17:10;gS;yI Mi 2:6;HiphÇiÖl perfectzt;he Is 18:5 forztehe (cf. § 29 q), which is forzytihe fromzWT . On the other hand the imperfectsrmey" Ez 48:14 (unless it be intended forrmiy" , cf.y Ps 15:4) andx;pey" Hb 2:3, are to be regarded according to § 109 i, simply as rhythmically shortened forms ofrymiy" andx;ypiy" .
9. In common with verbs ee
[¾¾[ (§ 67 g) verbsW¾¾[ sometimes have inNiphÇal andHiphÇiÖl the quasi-Aramaic formation, by which, instead of the long vowel under the preformative, they take a short vowel withDagesÛ forte in the following consonant; this variety is frequently found even along with the ordinary form, e. g.tySihi to incite, imperfecttySiy: (alsotysihe; tysiy" );gySihi , imperfectgySiy: to remove (fromnWs ), alsoHophÇal gS;hu Is 59:14 (on~Q;häu cf. § 29 g); sometimes with a difference of meaning, asx;ynIhe to cause to rest,8 butx;yNIhi (imperfectx;yNIy: , consecutivex;NIÐT;w: Gn 39:16; imperativexN:h; , plur.WxyNIÐh; ) to set down; forhx'yNIÐhuw> (Baer, GinsburgnIhuw> ) Zc 5:11 (which at any rate could only be explained as an isolated passive ofHiphÇiÖl on the analogy of the biblical Aramaictm;yqih\ Dn 7:4), we should probably readh'xuñyNIhiw> with Klostermann after the LXX. In Dn 8:11 theKethiÖbh ~yrh is intended for a perfectHiphÇiÖl . There is also a distinction in meaning between!yliy" to spend the night, to remain, and!yLiy: Ex 16:7QereÖ (KethiÖbh WnALTi ; conversely, verse 2KethiÖbh WnyLiñy: ,QereÖ WnALñyI ), participle!yLim; Ex 16:8, Nu 14:27, 17:20, to be stubborn, obstinate: in the latter sense from the form!yliy" only!l,Y"Ðw: is found, Ex 17:3. Other examples areNiphÇal lAMnI he was circumcised, Gn 17:26 f.; participle 34:22 (fromlWm , notlm;n" );rA[nE he is waked up, Zc 2:17 (see above, v);HiphÇil h'WlñyZIhi La 1:8;WzyLiñy: Pr 4:21.
Perhaps the same explanation applies to some forms of verbs first guttural with ff
DagesÛ forte implicitum, which others derive differently or would emend, e. g.vx;T;ñw: forvx;T'ñw: and she hastened (fromvWx ) Jb 31:5;j[;Y:Ðw: (another reading isj[;Y"Ðw: ),j[;T;ñw: 1 S 15:19, 25:14 (14:32QereÖ ) fromjW[ orjy[i to fly at anything. Both, as far as the form is concerned, would be correct apocopated imperfects fromhv'x' andhj'[' (h¾¾l ), but these stems only occur with a wholly different meaning.
10. Verbs with a consonantal gg
WaÒw for their second radical, are inflected throughout like the strong form, provided the first or third radical is not a weak letter, e. g.rIw:x' , imperfectrw:x/y), to be white;[w:G" , imperfect[w:g>yI to expire;xw:r' to be wide;xw:C' to cry;PiÇeÒl lWE[i , imperfectlWE[;y> to act wickedly;tWE[i to bend,HithpaÇeÒl tWE[;t.hi to bend oneself; and this is especially the case with verbs which are at the same timeh¾¾l , e. g.hw"c' ,PiÇeÒl hW"ci to command,hW"qi to wait,hw"r' to drink,piÇeÒl hW"rI (on%w<Y"Ðr;a] Is 16:9, see § 75 dd) andHiphÇiÖl hw"r>hi to give to drink, &c.
Footnotes:
1[1] The term
2[1] In Aramaic, however, always
3[2] According to Stade (Grammatik, § 385 e and f) the e in
5[2]
6[1] In 1 K 14:12 (
7[1] Cf. Delitzsch's commentary on
8[1] As the passive of this